Morning for the Forgotten Ones
by Plantress
Summary: There is something happening in Japan. A goddess has taken inspiration from Athena and reincarnated herself.  Now she has started to gather warriors of her own.  Cho, a middle school girl who feels the weight of an unknown destiny, is one of them.


The wind blew through her hair, sending the short strands whipping behind her. It felt good, perfect. The pounding of her heart and the feeling of her feet striking the pavement mixed with the wind to create a sort of familiar song to her, one her body new well. She loved this feeling, loved running, and loved pushing herself to the limits of what she could do. From the moment she left the starting block it was as if she was flying, invincible…

"Time!"

Breathing only a little heavily Cho slowed to a stop as her coach whistled softly.

"Well done Nakamura," he said, "you've managed to shave nearly a half second off your time! Keep improving like this and you'll blast away your competition at the next track meet out of the water."

"Thanks coach," she said, grinning. "I've been practicing!"

"It shows!" he clapped her on the shoulder. "but enough for today. Cool down then go home. I don't' want you pushing yourself to hard before the meet."

"Got it," she said, giving him a nod before jogging off to where she had left her water bottle and bag stashed. As she dug the bottle out her bag she heard something from behind her.

"Cho! Cho!" She knew who it was even before she turned around to greet them.

"What is it Aoi?" she asked her classmate as the other girl jogged up to her.

"Our teacher wanted to make sure you had the survey we're suppose to fill out," she panted. "He said it was important!"

"The one about which high school we plan to get into? Yeah I have it, why?" she closed the bottle she had been drinking and stuffed it back in the bag.

"Because it's due next Tuesday!" Aoi said, "Turning it in counts for part of our grades and you know that we can't afford to miss any assignments!"

"Hey, my grades are perfectly fine!" Cho pointed at her friend. "And you're grades aren't any better or worse than mine!"

"My grade in art is a lot better than yours," Aoi said cheerfully, causing Cho to groan.

"Don't remind me!" The taller girl grumbled as she threw her towel into her bag and zipped it closed. "I don't see why we even need to take art anyway! It's not like I don't try! I'm just not artly inclined!"

"It would probably help if you didn't skip that class half the time."

"That's because if I went, Mrs. Sato would be picking on me the whole class," Cho picked up her bag and threw it over her shoulder. "Anyway, I'll get that survey done, all right? Tell the teacher not to worry about it."

"She doesn't pick on you," Aoi protested as Cho started to walk away. She hurried to catch up with her friend. "She's just trying to make sure you get at least a passing grade."

"I'm passing everything else," Cho said stubbornly as she turned to look back at her friend. "What is an art grade going to matter?"

"It matters to what high school you'll be applying for! That's why we're suppose to turn in our surveys, so that we can have a last meeting with the teachers to make sure we have a least a chance of making it in!"

"Then I'll just be sure that I pick a high school that doesn't care about my art score."

"That might not be as easy as it sounds!" Aoi said. "Some high schools are going to pay attention to your entire academic record. Which high school are you planning on going to?"

"Uhh…I dunno know yet?"

"What!"

Cho walked forward a couple of paces before she realized that Aoi wasn't pacing her anymore. She glanced back to find her friend had stopped walk and was just starting at her. "…What?"

"Cho, we're third years!" Aoi said in disbelief. "We're supposed to be preparing for high school! How can you not know what high school you want to get into when we're this close to trying for our entrance exams?"

"It's not like I haven't been studying for entrance exams at all! I've just been studying in a very general sort of way. Sometimes."

"Cho!"

"Cho! Aoi! Wait up!" the male voice echoed Aoi's own shriek and the both of them turned to find the source of it.

"Hey Ken!" Cho called in greeting as the sturdy boy jogged up to them, a sports bag slung over his shoulder. "Finished with judo for today?"

"Ken!" Aoi snapped, and pointed at Cho, "tell her that she can't leave her choice of high school up until the last minuet!"

"What?" the young man looked puzzled for a moment then suddenly grinned. "Ah, has your bad habit surfaced again Cho?"

"Bad habit?" Aoi said, puzzled.

"Come on, you've been friends with her for two years and you still haven't noticed it?" Ken said in an amused tone of voice. "Our dear friend Cho is not one to plan of the future. The most she thinks about is sixth months into the future and she's bound to forget any plans she made for that too, unless you remind her. Why else do you think I have to remind her five days before a big test, just to have her panic and study like crazy?"

"I am not that bad!" Cho growled. "I just get…forgetful sometimes!"

"Forgetful enough to not even think about starting to look at high schools?" Ken asked. Cho opened her mouth to say something, but seemed to think better of it and looked away. Her friend sighed. "Cho, I've known you since we were in elementary school together, but we're not kids anymore. We have to start thinking about out futures, whether we want to or not."

"I know, I know!" Cho snapped, then sighed. "Sorry, it's just that it's well…kind of hard to explain."

"What's hard to explain?" Aoi demanded. "We're you're friends, you can at least try to tell us!"

"Look, why don't we go grab a snack somewhere then we can try to talk about it," Ken said quickly. "You know you always think better after you have something to eat Cho."

"…Fine," Cho said after a moment. "I'm _starving _anyway..you should see how hard the coach was working us!"

"Probably not as hard as the Captain is working us," Ken started to usher them out the school gate as he talked. "He's really pushing us to place this year. You know that he's embarrassed after last year."

"Well it was a rather embarrassing loss," Aoi was still keeping a stern eye on Cho as she spoke, not letting her friend forget her promise.

"Please don't remind me of that," Ken begged. "We've been lectured on our over confidence so many times I can practically remember the coaches' speech word for word." He drew himself up, mimicking Coach Sato, " 'You allowed your egos to get the best of you! Because it was a school we had never lost to before, you chose not to use your full power! You've shammed the entire school and knocked us out of the running before we even started!'" Ken sighed. "You get the idea."

"It was kind of dumb of the Captain not to field his best just because he was trying to prove how much better than the other team you guys were," Cho had to point out.

"I said not to mention it…hey, there's the park!" Ken pointed ahead. "There's a guy that sells crepes near here…we could grab some."

"Sounds good," Cho said, going along with the change in subject.

"Then after that we can ask Cho about why she feels she can't choose a high school yet!" Aoi chimed in, causing Cho to grow.

"Can't we talk about something else?" she pleaded.

"No," Aoi said stubbornly. "As your friend and as your classmate I want to help you with your future if I can!"

"Fine!" Cho groaned as Ken jogged ahead, only to stop and wave to them as he found the crêpe cart. After they had their orders, he lead them over to a circular bench build around a tree.

"Now, talk" he said after they had sat down and been eating for a few moments. Both he and Aoi stopped eating to stare at her intently.

"I said that it was hard to explain," Cho protested.

"Try," Aoi said firmly.

"All right," Cho sighed.

"Come on, trust us!" Ken grinned.

"I said I would try," Cho growled then said in softer tones. "It's just that I really haven't figured out what I'm suppose to be doing, you know? Sports is really the only thing that I feel good at, but even that doesn't feel like enough. Sometimes it almost feels like I'm waiting, and waiting for something to happen, but it doesn't. The closet I can compare it to is going to a bus stop and waiting for the bus only to realize it's already left and you have nothing left to but wait some more." As she spoke Cho felt a pricking sensation on the back of her neck, as if someone was staring at her. But the time she was finished speaking it was so uncomfortable she couldn't stand it anymore and turned around fast to see who it was. The only thing she could see was the tree blocking half her vision and a few random people walking by in the park.

"..Cho?" Aoi said in surprised as Cho glanced around, looking for anything out of the ordinary. "What is it?"

"…It's nothing," she said quietly after a moment.

"No use trying to distract us now," Ken said amused, "you've already said your piece. But I understand don't worry."

"You do?" Cho turned to look in surprise.

"Of course!" Ken grinned, "It's the trial of youth! Even I've felt that way before because it's human nature to try to find a place that you belong in the world. Sometime people find it really easily; some people like you and me have to struggle a bit to find out place. Don't worry, it will come in time."

"…Ken, stop trying to sound mature. It's creepy coming from you."

"Heh, sorry. But I really didn't mean it that way but what I said is true. You'll find your place, the same as the rest of us."

"You make it sound so easy," Cho sighed, "I'm just not sure it will be."

"But you'll do it," Aoi said with conviction. "You can start by filling out that survey and at least thinking about a decision, okay? Promise?"

"I promise," Cho sighed. "I have a track meet this Sunday…I think a couple of scouts are suppose to be there. Who knows, maybe I'll get an offer."

"You still shouldn't leave everything to chance like that," Aoi scolded. "At least try to look at your options."

"I think she's got it Aoi," Ken interrupted. "You can always keep an eye on her in class, right?"

"That's true…and anyway, I have to get going," the shorter girl said as she checked her cellphone. "I promised my mom I would help her with dinner."

"Okay, we'll see you tomorrow then," Cho said. "And I'll think about high schools when I get home."

"Good," Aoi said, satisfied. "You do the same thing, okay Ken?"

"I will," Ken said, "And I'll even show you the results tomorrow!"

"..I look forward to it. Until tomorrow then!"

Aoi waved back as she set off, calling goodbyes to her friend. Once she was out of sight, Ken collapsed back against the trunk of the tree with a groan.

"Why is she so pushy?" he complained, "I mean I would understand if she was the class representative or something but she really has no reason to bug us like that!"

"It's just her way of showing she cares," Cho said as she finally finished her crepe and stood to throw the wrapper away. "It's not like she's doing any real harm. Just ignore her if she tries to get to annoying."

"You try ignoring her and tell me how that goes," Ken stood and threw his own trash away. "I guess she does have a point though. We should get going on those surveys."

"I get the feeling she would kill us if we don't," Cho said, resettling her bag over her shoulder.

"I doubt she would do anything i_that/i _bad, at least to you. You shouldn't let her push your around so much. You could have at least convinced her to leave you alone long enough to change out of your track clothes!"

"What, this?" Cho laughed. "Aoi didn't have anything to do with it. I was just thinking of jogging home today before she caught me. It's not like I would let her push me around _that _badly."

"Oh, so that's what it was," Ken chuckled in a relieved sort of way. "I should have known you wouldn't be pushed around so easily. You're waaaay to hard headed for that."

"You could have at least said stubborn," Cho couldn't help grumbling.

"Very well, oh stubborn one," Ken grinned then seemed to hesitate for a second before saying slowly. "Um, look, if you need someone to help you pick out a high school, I'm only a phone call away. Even if you just need someone to bounce ideas off of…I'm there, you know?"

"Yeah, thanks," the girl smiled, "you've always had my back."

"Of course, because I…I'm you're friend right," Ken suddenly looked away. "A..anyway, I've got to get back home. My mom made me promise to help set up for my Aunt's birthday."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow."

"Yeah, tomorrow. Be careful on the way home!"

"You too!"

Ken wave as he headed up a path through the park. As he disappeared around a bend, Cho turned her own feet toward the path home.

After a few minuets of jogging, she again felt the pricking on her neck again. Immediately she turned around and glanced behind. Behind her was nothing but an empty street. She turned back around, trying to ignore the shiver that went down her spine as she started her jog again. The strange feeling that something was behind her didn't go away and her steps started to quicken unconsciously. It wasn't until she felt her breath starting to strain in her lungs that she realized she was all but running.

"Idiot," she said to herself as she forced herself to slow. "Running from nothing..?" A suddenly feeling of urgency and dread filled her as she stopped, her skin starting to crawl. "Stop it," she said to herself. "You aren't a kid that gets scared of her own shadow." To prove it to herself she took a deep breath and deliberately looked behind her.

It filled her vision, a tall figure in a cloak, evening light glinting off a twisted inhuman face that was deep in the hood it wore. Slowly, it lifted a hand that bore talons on it's fingers. Fear froze her to the spot, her heart jumping up to lodge in her throat as she watched it slowly raise a taloned hand and took a step forward as it reached out towards her.

That moment broke the paralysis that had gripped her. A screamed ripped itself from her throat as she turned and ran as fast as she could toward home. Home, where everything was normal and _fine _and there were no black shadows….she didn't even dare glance behind her to see if it was following or if was. Her legs burned as she hit a hill, chest aching. She was a sprinted, not a long distance runner! But if she stopped if she slowed even for a moment she was sure it would catch her. She could almost _feel _it as it came up right behind her, claws outstretched to grab her and pull her down…

A sob escaped her and she put on a last burst of speed up the crest of the feel. She could barely feel her legs anymore. They were just a dull ache that cried out at her to rest but she was too frightened to even slow down.

At last she whipped around a corner, nearly falling over and scrambling to stay on her feet. Her house was just ahead less than halfway down the street. Just seeing it gave her more strength and she put on a final burst of speed, her bad jolting painfully against her side. She skidded to a stop and yanked the gate open, the sharp pain of a splinter barely registering as ran inside and slammed it shut behind her. It wasn't until she had thrown the lock closed that she looked up, panting.

There was nothing there. A piece of paper tumbled by outside the gate. No shadows other than the natural ones cast by the late evening sun. When she finally got up the nerve to take a step forward and peer down the street from over the gate, there was nothing their either. No menacing nightmare creature hovering, waiting for her to leave the flimsy barrier the fence and gate provide. Instead here was the neighbor's cat as it walked along the wall, stopping only to give her an affronted look.

It was such a ridiculous, shaming look that she couldn't help but laugh. And she kept on laughing, half in relief and half in how stupid the whole thing had been. Running form monster in broad daylight? It was probably just some guy in a coat that she'd scared half to death when she screamed. That was it. It had to be.

Slowly she calmed down and was finally able to breath normally. Small pains crept back up on her. Her side was sore from her bag slamming into it as she ran, her legs were aching as they protested her run and that splinter was hurting.

She quickly nipped the splinter out before heading to up her door. It was only as she reached for the doorknob that she noticed her hands were still shaking. Seeing that made her frown. After a second she closed her eyes and forced herself to take several deep, calming breaths before she opened her eyes. Her hands had stopped shaking and she carefully opened the door.

"I'm home!" she called as she stepped inside and sat down to tug her shoes off.

"Welcome back," she heard her mother say as she came up her. "Did practice go well today?"

"Yeah," Cho said stiffly as she climbed to her feet and headed down the hallway. As she passed the open doorway of the living room, she paused. "Hey Dad! You're home early today."

Her stepfather looked up from his paper and smiled at her. "The office reminded me that I had some time off," he said mildly. "How did school go? Did practice go well?"

Practice seemed like it had been so long ago now. It took her a moment to form a reply. "I got my shortest time ever today! Coach said I'll clean up at the next track meet!"

"That's wonderful!" her dad grinned, "I'll be sure to come cheer you on!"

"Thanks," she said and started to head upstairs.

"Dinner will be done soon!"

"Okay!"

As she reached the second floor she sighed, wondering she should tell her parents what had happened. Even if it had just been someone playing a prank she should probably let someone know…but they probably wouldn't believe her. Or they would start to worry over and she didn't want that either. Her stepfather worked hard enough as it was. He didn't need anymore stress just because of something she might have seen.

She opened the door to her room and dropped her bag next to her bed. Here, in her brightly lit house, what had happened just didn't seem real. How could she ever have thought it was real? I had probably just been some idiot from school trying to freak people out. They would probably be laughing about it and spread it all over school tomorrow in hopes of getting a laugh out of it.

"At least I'll know who they are then," she growled to herself, silently vowing to extract painful revenge on whoever it was.

Behind her there was a click as her door opened. "Nee-chan?"

Cho knew who it was even before she heard the voice. There was only one person who would enter her room without bothering to knock.

"Hanako," she said as she turned around, "I thought I told you to stop barging in!"

"Sorry," her little sister said, "but Mommy said that dinner was almost ready." Cho sighed, reminding herself that her sister was only eight.

"Then you knock, and wait for me to answer. Do _not _just barge into my room again."

"Fine," Hanako said huffily. Cho realized she had gotten her hair just again. It still fell well past her shoulders but it was styled and set in a way that didn't last long on an active eight year old.

"…Did Mom take you to the salon again?"

"Huh?" Hanako reached up and touched her hair. "Yeah she took me after school, and said it would make me look pretty. Does it look weird?"

"No, it looks fine," Cho sighed as she picked up her school bag off the bed and carried her over the desk. "Anyway tell Mom I'll…" the words died on her lips as she looked up at the window over her desk. _It _was standing under a streetlight that had just flickered on outside, dark hood covering that glistening face as it stared up at her.

She reached out and yanked the curtain closed without thinking, her hand shaking slightly.

"…Nee-chan?" Hanako asked, clearly startled. "What..?"

"It's nothing!" Cho couldn't help but snap, then took a deep breath. "Just tell Mom I'll be down as soon as I change, okay?"

"Yes, but.."

"Just go!" she said and started to push the younger girl out of the room.

"I am, geeze!" Hanako stomped off in a huff. As she left, Cho glanced back at the window and suppressed a shudder. _It's just a costume,_she told herself firmly, but she couldn't bring herself to peek through the curtains the rest of the night.

A yawn escaped Cho's lips as she walked through the school gates the next morning. Hastily she tried to bring her hand up to hide it but by then it was too late. She just hoped no one had noticed it. Explaining why she was so tired would be far too complicated and embarrassing. There was no way she was going to admit to anyone that she had spent the night scared that a boogey-man was going to come in her window. Everything from the chase to the sight of the shadow under the street lamp seemed unbelievable now. Even in her head trying to explain to anyone what had happened sounded childish. The embarrassment of actually saying it out loud would be too much for her.

"…Cho?" A hand fell on her shoulder. She jumped without meaning to, dropping a hand to her bag as she turned around.

"Uh…" Aoi was standing behind her, looking completely confused. "Cho? Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing," Cho said as she tried to force her heart to calm down. "You just surprised me a little. Morning, Aoi."

"Morning," Aoi said uncertainly, "Are you really okay? You look…tired."

"I just couldn't get to sleep last night is all," she answered quickly. "It's nothing. We should get to class!" Cho turned and started walking. After a moment Aoi caught up to her.

"At least tell me that the reason you stayed up so late is because you were researching high schools," her friend said. For a moment Cho felt her mind blank at that, then suddenly remembered their conversation from yesterday.

"Ah, sorry, I forgot about that," she groaned. She had barely managed to concentrate long enough to get her homework for today done. Everything else gotten shoved to the back of her mind after everything that had happened yesterday.

"Come on, you know this is important," Aoi insisted. "If you don't start making choices now you aren't going to be able to get into a good high school!"

"You told me that yesterday," Cho said, "I remember. I promise that I'll…" her voice died as they neared the school doors. There was something lurking in the bushes near the doors, a darker shadow writhing a shadow that seemed to dash away even as she watched.

"You'll what?"

Cho looked over at Aoi to find her friend starting fixedly at her and realized that she hadn't seen the strange shadow.

"Cho?" Aoi frowned in concern.

"I'll do it after practice," she answered quickly. "Now come on, I don't want to be late!" She hurried inside, trying not to glance at the space on either side of the door.

The school day seemed to pass slowly for Cho. Her nerves were on edge again, half expecting something to happen. The faint hope she had still held that it had all been a prank from someone faded as the day went on and no one owed up to it. It didn't make any sense! What had been going on then? What was that last night? She couldn't think of anything that made sense! Anytime she tried to rationalize it her mind started to call up things she didn't want to think about. Nightmares weren't supposed to exist in the normal world! It made her distracted through most of school, which had annoyed her teachers. That she had managed to forget she i_also/i_ had English homework that she had somehow missed and hadn't even noticed which page they were on in class had ended up making Takada-sensei keep her after school. After a half-hour under his gaze she was glad to be able to escape the classroom and get down to the school grounds.

"And of course coach will be mad at me being late for practice too," she muttered to herself as she started to cross the small yard that lead to the girls locker rooms for the track team. Maybe she should have checked her horoscope for this week. Normally she didn't pay much attention to things like that, but a little warning would have been nice.

As she walked by a tree that stood halfway between the buildings, the shadows under it suddenly shifted. The movement caught her eye and she stopped midstide, watching in horrified fascination as they shadows seemed to gather together, growing taller and taller until, with a shiver, they turned into long back robes. Slowly the creature raised it's expressionless face and for just a moment their eyes meet. Then Cho tore her eyes away and took off for the clubhouse.

Before she has gone very far it was already there, gliding in front of her with impossible speed. She scrambled to slide to a stop, not wanting to even come close it. Her feet slide out from under as she skidded to a stop, dumping her painfully on her side but she scrambled back to her feet almost as soon as she went down and took off around the shadow. The practice field wasn't that far ahead. She didn't care how stuid she looked racing in with nothing behind her, she had to get there. At least there were other people around then, others who could see it others who could…do what?

She had a sudden vision of the shadow reaching the crowded reaches of the practice fields and then starting to attack everyone else there when it didn't catch her. It was clearly chasing her for i_some/i _reason, and all the movies she had seen said that it would attack the people around her if it couldn't get to her.

Even if it did disappear when she reached people, what then? Would she spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder just waiting for a black shadow that she was sure was lurking there? Going short on sleep because she thought she heard something outside her window? Living her life in fear wasn't something she felt like doing.

Not wanting to think to hard about what she was going to do, Cho quickly changed directions, stumbling and nearly falling as she raced toward an area between one of the school storage sheds and the school itself. It was a dead end, but at least there was no one around.

"Okay," she said as she stopped and turned around quickly. There was the shadow again, right behind her, blocking her from leaving. "Look I don't know what you are but why don't you….leave!" At her last word she threw her school bag as hard as she could at the shadow. It barely moved aside, letting the bag sail past it. Cho dropped her heavier athletics bag, wondering what she was supposed to do now. How did you even hurt a monster? She scooted into the middle of the space uncertainly…and suddenly the monster was _there, _right in front of her, hand upraised with silver claws showing through it's robe. Cho screamed in shock and did the first thing she could think of to drive it back. She kicked it hard. Maybe she wasn't really trained but she still had leg strength from all the running she did. It usually worked.

Her foot didn't hit any resistance as it shot through the shadow, over balancing her. She fell with a slight yell. As she hit the ground, Cho oofed the glanced back at the shadow just in time to see it's claws descending towards her. Heart hammering she threw herself to the side, barely managing to roll out of the way of it's attack. The claws hit the ground and seemed to stick there.

"I said leave me alone!" Cho balled a fist, and struck out a the shadow, only thinking about driving it back enough that she could get away. This had been stupid, insane. She didn't know how to fight monsters!

As her fist connected it shot through the shadow…and the creature seemed to dissolve, fading away right before her eyes. For a long moment Cho sat frozen, staring at where it had been standing. "What….?"

"That is enough," a soft voice said. "I'll admit that I am surprised. You have more spirit than I gave you credit for."

Cho started and turned around. There was a girl standing behind her, one wearing a high school uniform that she didn't recognized. The stranger was also tanned, blonde-haired and had incredibly thick make-up on. _Ganguro? _Her scrambled brain supplied even as she just stared at the oddity of it. "Who…who are you?" she managed to say at last.

"Just someone who was rather curious about you," the girl said, seeming to take that as some sort of signal to start walking closer. "You did do much better than I had hoped. Not many people would be willing to _face _something like that. It was rather brave if foolish."

"Wait, you know what that thing was?" Cho scrambled to her feet. "Why are you so curious about me? What's going on?"

"The answer to the first is 'yes' but I am afraid I am not at liberty to answer your other questions. If you truly want to know the answers to them then I am afraid that you'll have to come with me."

"No way!" Cho crossed her arms. "Why should I have to do that? What's going on? Who are?"

"You don't have to _do _anything," the strange girl answered. "I'm simply telling you facts. If you want to know more, then you have to come with me. If you wish to remain ignorant of your true destiny, then you can stay here and continue living as you have. It's your choice."

"My…destiny?" Cho whispered the words softly. "What are you _talking _about?"

"Just what it sounds like," the stranger said mildly, " a destiny that is yours to take if you wish. Of course that's provided you have enough courage to come with me and grasp it. What will you do?"

Cho almost said no. Almost. Then she remembered the feelings she had been having lately of having missed something important, of being adrift and waiting for something to happen. What if this was what she had been waiting for? If she said no, if she just went back to her normal life…she didn't think she would ever stop regretting it.

"…I'll go," she said finally. " But you had better tell me what this is all about at the end."

"Oh, I will," the girl said. "Now gather your things and we shall go."

It took Cho a couple of minutes to get her sports bag and find where all the papers had gone when her school bag had opened mid-flight but eventually everything was together.

"I'm ready," she told the strange girl. The stranger nodded…then abruptly latched onto her arm, grinning vacantly.

"Come on," she said in a whine, "it's not going to take that long! Like only a minute or so! We'll be right back!" she started tugging Cho along as she talked, dragging them both back toward the school gate.

"Uhh…" Was the only thing Cho could think to say as they made their way through the school grounds, passing several other students that all looked as puzzled as she was. It wasn't until they were actually passed the school gates did Cho managed to find her voice again. "What are you doing?"

"Put up with it," the stranger said in a more normal tone of voice, "there is more than one type of illusion in this world. This one will only last until our destination." Then she grinned vacantly and began to chatter again as Cho found herself being tugged down the street. She tried not to pay attention to what her slightly insane guide was saying. Most o if was chatter about celebrities and fashion that she had no interest in. Her patience began to wear thin after a while and at last it became too much.

"Look," she snapped, " I don't have time to play.."

"We're here," the stranger said, letting go of her arm. They were standing at the bottom of a long flight of steps. Cho knew this area very well, this was the large shrine near the school that everyone told stories about. Usually ones involving ghosts and tradjic loves for some reason.

"This is it?" Cho said uncertainly as she gazed upwards.

"Where else did you expect destiny to reside?" the stranger said smiling as a little as she started to run lightly up the stares. Feeling annoyed and not about to lose to someone like…_ this.._Cho started after here.

Even though she prided on herself on being athletic, Cho was still breathing slightly heavily when she reached the top step well behind the stranger.

"Well?" the stranger said, giving her an amused look. "I thought you wanted to know the answers to your questions _now._"

"I do!"

"Then come this way!" the stranger started around the outside of the shrine, passing most of the buildings, including the house that Cho had been sure they would head too. Instead, they started down a small path in the woods behind the house. Just as Cho was starting to be convinced that this was all some sort of elaborate trap or hoax, another house came into view. This one was built along more traditional lines than the house they had passed, with paper screens.

The walk to get to the door brought them through a elaborate garden complete with several sculpted trees and a large pond with several koi swimming in it.

"Where are we?" Cho asked as they reached the patio that wrapped around the house.

"Where you will get answers," the stranger answered. "Now wait here for a moment, there's something I must do before we go to greet the Lady." As she spoke the stranger slide open a door inside. "You may wait here," before Cho could say anything else, the stranger entered the room and shut the door behind her.

"…Well thanks for the hospitality," Cho muttered as she gazed at the paper screen, " I'll just make myself at home then." Carefully she set her bags down on the porch and stretched as she gazed around. The gardens looked like something that belonged in a mansion, not in a shrine like this. The porch continued along around a corner, and she walked over to it to carefully peer around it. Here was another garden, and more rooms…

"What are you doing?"

Cho jumped guiltily and turned around. The strange girl was back, only she looked different now. Her skin and hair were the same but she had washed off the heavy make up and now wore the white and red.

"…You're a _priestess?_" Cho said in disbelief. She had never, ever, heard of a ganguro priestess before. No matter how she looked at it she just looked odd, like a child that was playing dress-up.

"Yes," the priestess said, looking more amused than offended. "Now, come, I will take you to someone who can answer your questions." She turned and started to walk away, leaving Cho to hurry after. They went in the opposite direction from where Cho had been exploring passing several more rooms and gardens before the crossed an open hallway to another building that was slightly separate from the main one. The priestess put her hand to the door and stopped.

"Remember," she said, "you must be polite and respectful. You are being given an honor very few have received by being allowed to meet with the Lady."

"Uh, okay…" Cho wondered whom exactly she was going to meet. Royalty?

The priestess knocked lightly on the door. There was a soft sound from within then a light voice called.

"Who has come to this place?"

"It is Senshi, my Lady," the priestess answered. "I have brought the guest you wished to see and we desire to be allowed into your agust presence."

Cho gave the priestess, Senshi, at least she knew her name now, an odd look. Who talked like that in this day and age? Were they _really_ going to see royalty?

Inside the building there was a small pause then the voice spoke again.

"Enter."

Senshi bowed then slowly slide the door open, giving Cho a pointed look and nodded at the door. Slowly Cho entered the room.

"Sorry for intruding," she muttered as she entered. She caught a glimpse of a room with a floor polished to a high sheen, some very expensive furniture and several incense holders that were lending a strong scent to the room. It was only a glimpse though since Senshi grabbed her neck and forced her head down.

"I said be respectful!" the older girl hissed. "Bow!"

"….It is all right," the soft high voice said. "I want to see her face. You may let go of her, Senshi." There was a pause.

"Yes, my Lady," she heard Senshi say and the pressure on her neck released. Cho straightened, rubbing her neck as she finally saw who had been speaking.

There was a platform in the middle of the room with only two things on it. One was a very large elaborate mirror held in a stand. The other was a girl. Her hair was blacker than anything Cho had ever seen and flowed well behind her. Standing it would have been longer than the girl was tall. Her skin was incredibly pale, yet it wasn't washed out by the bright reds, oranges, yellows and golds of her complicated many-layer kimono like you would expect it to be. Instead the bright colors just seemed to fit her in an odd. The girl just looked so…perfect that she seemed more like a large doll than any living girl. But the girl meet her eyes and smiled at her before opening a fan delicately in front of her face.

"Greetings Nakamura Cho," the girl said, "we have been waiting for you. I am sure you have many questions you wish to ask. Do no worry, I will answer them as best I can. "

"Who..who are you?" Cho said slowly. The girl laughed slowly folding her fan.

"I? I am Amaterasu."

A/N: And this ends the first chapter of this. I'll make the timeline this takes place in clearer later on. There will be canon characters appearing in this later.

I've been working on this for a while but I wasn't sure I wanted to post it. Generally when I post OC centric stories it's because I have a solid plot for them. I know for sure what the beginning, the middle and the end are about. With this while I know the beginning and parts of the middle, the rest are only vague maybes that exist in my mind. I still have more work to do on some characters and villains before things start to become more solid. This will be update, just very slowly until I get a few more things squared away.


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